


Under His Protection

by Aziraphales (arka_r)



Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: BAMF Aziraphale (Good Omens), BAMF Crowley (Good Omens), Canon-Typical Violence, Good Person Gabriel (Good Omens), M/M, POV Gabriel (Good Omens), Post-Almost Apocalypse (Good Omens), Protective Gabriel (Good Omens), They/Them Pronouns for Crowley (Good Omens)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-01 14:08:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20816420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arka_r/pseuds/Aziraphales
Summary: A certain Duke of Hell has been itching to get back to Crowley and Aziraphale gets kidnapped.





	Under His Protection

**Author's Note:**

> beta'd by [SaerM](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaerM)
> 
> written for Ineffable Outliers discord server weekly challenge: 
> 
> "Tension is brewing in the world of Good Omens, and a fight has broken out. This could be a physical encounter or a verbal one and can involve whichever and however many characters you wish. The only stipulation is that it has to, in some way, define as a fight."

It was the perfect night for demons to lurk. Night had fallen hours ago and the crescent moon shone weakly upon the city. Light summer rain fell softly, bringing humidity along with it. In this kind of weather, nobody would pay attention to two demons lurking after two human-like figures walking hand in hand.

Nobody but him, it seemed.

Darkness had never bothered Gabriel. He had better senses than humans, so he could see the two figures and the two demons lurking after them as clearly as if it was daylight. 

He had been lurking for two hours now, waiting, biding his time. The two human-like figures seemed oblivious to the danger behind them, and Gabriel… couldn’t have that.

It wasn’t until the two figures turned into an alleyway that the two demons began their ambush. One of them pulled out something that was bright and awful.

Hellfire.

The hellfire lit up the alleyway, making the two humanlike figures more noticeable. The tall and lanky one was putting themself between their partner and the demons. Meanwhile, the shorter and plump one was brandishing a cane at them as if it were a sword.

Still, it was hellfire, and Gabriel couldn’t stand idly by as the two beings were threatened like that.

Not on his watch.

He walked out from behind the wall where he was hiding and pulled a sword out of a pocket of light. Without any warning, he lifted it up and cleaved one of the demons in half, discorporating them in a single strike. The other demon screamed in near-hysteria and aimed the hellfire at him, but he managed to dodge it.

The other demon was a Duke of Hell — Gabriel recognized him now. How could he forget the horrible stench that seemed to follow Duke Hastur everywhere he went? He should have figured it out sooner.

The Duke of Hell pulled a curved blade out of the pocket of fire and lit it up with hellfire, before swinging it at Gabriel. Gabriel blocked it with his own sword and the two of them became locked together as they tried to overpower the other.

“Archangel Gabriel”, Hastur spat as if he were saying something horrible. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“Using hellfire on unsuspecting victims? Is it even Hell-sanctioned?” Gabriel ignored the greeting and went straight to the matter at hand.

“It doesn’t matter”, Hastur drawled. “Perhaps it’s different on your side, but my side hates loose ends.”

“I think we have a different understanding of what ‘loose ends’ are”, Gabriel returned calmly, before kicking the Duke of Hell in the knee. 

Hastur howled out in pain, and Gabriel used the distraction to cleave the Duke of Hell’s hand off. The appendage holding the flaming blade fell to the ground, before it melted into a puddle of goo. The flame died too soon after.

“Begone now, demon!” Gabriel threatened as he aimed his blade at the Duke of Hell’s face. “These beings are under my protection.”

Hastur spat on the ground, next to Gabriel’s well-polished shoes. The next moment, he sank into the ground and disappeared, leaving the strong stench of rot and sulphur behind.

Gabriel lowered his sword, before turning to his partners.

“Are you two alright?” Gabriel asked.

“Thanks to you”, Aziraphale said, placing a kiss on his cheek. “My hero.”

“Using an unsanctioned hellfire”, Crowley growled, the tip of their stiletto poking at the blade Hastur left behind. “Hastur is so dead if I bring this down to Lord Beelzebub.”

“I’ll go with you. Beelzebub will be more amenable if we have more than one eyewitness”, Gabriel told them. 

“Should I come too?” Aziraphale offered.

“Don’t worry about it, angels. I got this”, Crowley said with a smirk.

—

While Crowley took care of the infernal matter, Gabriel accompanied Aziraphale back to the bookshop just to be safe. While he knew that Aziraphale would be more than capable of defending himself, he wanted to do this if only for the peace of his own mind. He would never allow another demon to ambush his partner, not if he could help it. 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay with you?” Gabriel asked for the third time that night. 

“For the last time, Gabriel, I’m fine”, Aziraphale said.

“Crowley won’t return until tomorrow afternoon, at the very least. I can keep you company.” Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows too for good measure.

“Oh hush you”, Aziraphale tittered, pink dusting his cheeks. “I’ll be fine. I can handle myself, promise.”

“I know”, Gabriel said eventually. “Call me if anything goes wrong, okay?”

“I will”, Aziraphale said.

Gabriel gave him a kiss on the forehead, before ducking out of the bookshop. Taking a deep sigh, he then headed back to his flat. His sanctum. His home away from his partners.

—

It was around seven in the morning when a call woke Gabriel up.

Angels generally don’t need to sleep, but since he had been stationed on Earth and gotten to know Crowley better, he’d found that he enjoyed it immensely. It was one of the few earthly pleasures he allowed himself to have, aside from jogging and indulging in pretty clothes.

Groggily, Gabriel reached for his phone and found that it was Crowley who was calling him. Swiping the button to accept the call, he put the phone by his ear.

“What’s up, sunshine?” he asked.

“Gabriel, oh thank Somebody!” Crowley sounded frantic, and it made Gabriel frown. Something wasn’t right. “Is Aziraphale in your flat?”

“What? No! He was in the bookshop when I left”, Gabriel answered, now fully alert. Immediately, he jumped out of his bed and dressed with a snap of his fingers. 

“I’m at the bookshop right now and— and it’s a disaster here!” Crowley was near hysteric.  _ Shit _ , it had to be serious.

“I’ll come over now”, Gabriel said, before hanging up. Another snap of his fingers, he called upon lightning to strike the flat, taking him straight to the front of the bookshop in Soho.

Crowley was still wearing the clothes they’d worn last night, though their neatly arranged curls were a mess. They had to have mussed them up in distress, poor thing.

“He’s not in the backroom?” Gabriel asked as he entered the bookshop. Just like they said, the bookshop was a disaster. Shelves were upturned, and books and ripped pages were scattered all over the floor.

“No! I checked it already!” Crowley answered, tugging at their hair in distress. Gabriel quickly went to their side and pulled them into a hug.

“It’s okay, we’ll find him”, he tried to reassure them. “He’s strong and resourceful. He’ll be alright.”

Crowley sagged into his embrace, and if Gabriel could feel them shake and sob quietly, he tactfully said nothing. He knew that Crowley had some deep-seated issues regarding Aziraphale being in any kind of mortal danger —  _ heavens _ , so did Gabriel.

But now he had to be the stronger one — for both Crowley and Aziraphale’s sake.

“How are we going to find him, Gabe?” Crowley asked after a moment, their voice cracking. It broke Gabriel’s heart to hear them like this.

To be honest, Gabriel didn’t know. Heaven did keep track of their field agents — but Aziraphale hadn’t been a field agent since the Armageddon’t and his botched execution. He was no longer under Heaven’s jurisdiction. Gabriel let out a sigh and tightened his embrace.

“We’re going to plan our next move… and we’re going to find him”, he told Crowley.

He felt Crowley nod, and it seemed that their shaking had subsided considerably. Gabriel let go of them, and pointedly looked away as they put their sunglasses back on.

That was when he noticed an object sticking out of the rubble. Gabriel approached it and pulled it out — it was a cane, it seemed, the one that Aziraphale used the night before. There were dark spots on its pointier end.

“Is that…?” Crowley asked as they approached.

Gabriel nodded and handed the cane over to them. “Blood.”

Crowley popped their sunglasses back off before flicking their forked tongue close to the dark spots. “Demon blood”, they confirmed.

“Hastur’s, perhaps?” Gabriel asked.

“Couldn’t be him. Lord Beelzebub threw him in the cage for using unsanctioned hellfire”, Crowley hissed. “There’s no way he got out so quickly.”

Gabriel hummed, pleased. Hastur had always been a thorn in their sides for nearly two years now.

Suddenly, an idea popped in his mind. He walked around the upturned shelves, careful not to step on the damaged books —  _ heavens _ , Aziraphale would have a snit if he were here to see the damage done to his precious bookshop — before he bent over and plucked a book out of a pile.

“Something on your mind?” Crowley asked as they followed him curiously.

“An occult book”, Gabriel not quite answered Crowley’s question. “On how to summon a demon.”

Understanding crossed Crowley’s face.

“Right”, they said, twirling the cane in their hand. “We might need this.”

—

Once all of the preparations were done, Gabriel took a step back to admire the summoning circle drawn before him. Next to him, Crowley did the same; their hands were still gripping Aziraphale’s cane tightly and protectively.

They nodded at him as a sign that the summoning process was ready to go. Gabriel took out his sword, before nodding back at Crowley.

“I summon thee, demon, whose blood wetted this cane”, Crowley recited. A surge of demonic power washed over Gabriel, causing him to shudder slightly.

With a lick of flame, a figure coalesced into shape in the middle of the summoning circle.

“ _ You _ ”, Crowley growled.

“O-oh… Master Crowley”, the lesser demon stuttered as they tried to back away from an absolutely furious Crowley. Gabriel didn’t blame them — Crowley could be downright horrifying when they wanted to be.

Leaning onto his sword, Gabriel let Crowley handle the interrogation.

“Where. Issssss. Aziraphale”, Crowley hissed, their forked tongue flicking out.

The lesser demon shook. 

“Um. I’m not supposed to tell, Master Crowley”, they answered timidly, eyeing Gabriel with their dark eyes, but Crowley was having none of it.

“WHERE. ISSSSSS. HE?!” Crowley shouted as he transformed the upper part of their body into something monstrous — something scaly, feathered, and horned with multiple eyes and flame for hair. The lesser demon screamed out in fear.

“I can’t— Master Crowley, I can’t— Duke Hastur is not letting me—” the demon choked on their own words, eyes bulging, before they let out hacking noises. From their mouth, maggots poured out onto the floor, filling the space inside the summoning circle and viciously ate at the demon’s flesh. The demon died screaming.

“Hastur, that son of a— Fuck!” Crowley spat as he transformed back into his human-like shape. “Fucking  _ fuck! _ ”

Gabriel banished the maggots with a wave of his hand, before they could spill over and out of the circle.

“I guess it’s time for us to pay Duke Hastur a visit?” Gabriel asked.

“No, that won’t work. That prick will never tell ussssss where he’s keeping Aziraphale hidden”, Crowley hissed angrily.

“I sense a but”, Gabriel said.

Crowley nodded. “Lord Dagon keeps track of every demon’s whereabouts. This one’s previous location should be in a file somewhere Downstairs.”

“Let’s go then.”

—

After the Armageddon’t, Heaven and Hell set up a truce to allow them to work together in case of emergency. And, well… there was nothing more emergency than Aziraphale getting kidnapped by a vengeful demon, in Gabriel’s book. Lord Dagon, thankfully, was amenable to Gabriel’s request for assistance.

“This is the files regarding the lesser demon. You can find the coordinates of his whereabouts prior to his discorporation”, Lord Dagon said as she handed the thin stack of files to Gabriel.

“Are you certain it was Hastur who took the angel?” Lord Beelzebub asked from where ze was leaning against the wall. Gabriel tried to hide a grimace — the walls of Hell were not exactly the most sanitary.

“The demon mentioned Hastur’s name before being eaten away by maggots. That move has Hastur’s stench all over it”, Crowley growled. “‘Sides, Hastur’s the only one who’s got a personal vendetta against me.”

“Perhaps if you hadn’t eradicated his husband, he wouldn’t go against you like this”, Lord Beelzebub sniped. Crowley opened their mouth — and Gabriel knew, then, things would get ugly  _ fast _ .

“We thank you for the files”, Gabriel quickly said before Crowley could say anything. “We will return them once we’re done perusing them.”

“Hmph”, Lord Dagon huffed. “Just go. Your heavenly stench is going to ruin my files for sure.”

“Charming as always, Lord Dagon”, Gabriel chuckled. “C’mon, Crowley. We’ve got an angel to save.”

—

It didn’t take long for them to find the abandoned warehouse where Aziraphale was supposedly being held captive. Now that they were in the area, Gabriel could sense the demonic aura hanging like some kind of dense smog.

“Are you sure this is the place?” Crowley asked.

Loud commotion came from inside the warehouse, and a demon was thrown out of its open door.

“Seems like it”, Gabriel answered, before summoning his sword. Crowley looked around and found a metal pipe lying on the ground, brandishing it like a sword.

Cautiously, they entered the warehouse, and found a sight that nearly made Gabriel’s heart jump into his throat. Inside, Aziraphale was wrestling with a demon while six or seven others had him surrounded — all of whom were armed with hellfire-infused blades. 

With a harsh yell, Aziraphale threw the demon he was wrestling towards those surrounding him, and they all fell like some kind of demonic bowling pins. Gabriel was distraught.

It was the hottest thing he had ever seen.

“Oh, you two”, Aziraphale said, brightening up as he noticed both Crowley and Gabriel standing by the entrance. “You finally got here! I was just handling myself.”

“Seems like it”, Gabriel returned, impressed, before noticing that one of the demons was getting up. “Behind you.”

Aziraphale turned and swung a fist straight into the lesser demon’s face. They fell with a howl, nose broken and bloodied.

“How— Just, how?!” Crowley gaped. “I thought you were in danger!”

“Oh, I was. These demons know nothing about treating their prisoners right, but I suppose that’s how it is with demons”, Aziraphale said as he stepped over a pile of groaning lesser demons.

Gabriel let out a chuckle.

“Well, then, sunshine. Shall we go home?” he offered his hand, which Aziraphale took.

“Of course! It’s so dreadful here. I can’t wait to get back to the bookshop.”

_ Oh _ . 

Right. The bookshop.

—

“My bookshop!” Aziraphale cried out.

Gabriel could sense Crowley inching away from the blast site that was Aziraphale going into hysterics, and honestly, he couldn’t blame them. He’d wanted to hide too, but had found himself petrified to the spot.

“Yes, well. We thought we best leave it to your… ah,  _ careful  _ hands”, he said, mindful of his words.

The last time someone had attacked the bookshop, Gabriel and Crowley had tried to help Aziraphale clean everything up and… well. Let’s just say that it didn’t end well for either of them. There had been a lot of shouting, grumbling, and arguing about which book should go to which shelf.

Aziraphale had always been very… meticulous with his books. Gabriel couldn’t understand it, hadn’t been able to understand it, but well… it made Aziraphale happy.

Tutting to himself, Aziraphale began to miracle the torn pages back into their respective books. 

Sensing that this would take awhile, Gabriel and Crowley both splayed on the couch, with Crowley’s head on Gabriel’s lap as they watched Aziraphale putter around the bookshop.

Their guess was correct. It was around dawn when a loud thud woke Gabriel up, and he looked around rather groggily. He found Aziraphale, who had just finished erecting the last bookshelf back into its place. The bookshop had been returned to its former chaotic glory, not a single book out of place. Gabriel was rather impressed at the frivolous use of miracles.

“Honestly. Those demons have no respect at all!” Aziraphale huffed, a hand on his hips as he approached the couch where Crowley and Gabriel had made themselves comfortable.

“I would offer to make you some calming cocoa, but I don’t think I can get up”, Gabriel said. Crowley’s fingers were firmly latching onto his jumper. They just looked so peaceful in their sleep, and Gabriel didn’t have the heart to wake them up.

“It’s alright, my dear”, Aziraphale said, before taking a seat next to Gabriel, carefully rearranging Crowley’s limbs so that the three of them could fit on the couch.

Gently, Gabriel pulled Aziraphale so that he could rest his head on his own shoulder.

“You were so great today”, Gabriel told Aziraphale. 

“Mmm”, Aziraphale hummed happily. “Do you want to hear the story?”

“Sure”, Gabriel replied. “How did you manage to get out? I thought the demons would have you restrained.”

“Oh, they did restrain me. I just picked the lock myself”, Aziraphale swayed gleefully. “Now Crowley can’t badmouth my magic tricks. Saved my life today.”

Aziraphale let out a yawn.

“Go rest up. It’s been a long day”, Gabriel told him.

“I meant it when I said I was handling myself. But… well, thank you for coming for me, regardless”, Aziraphale murmured, before placing a kiss on Gabriel’s cheek.

“Not a problem, sunshine.”

**Author's Note:**

> check [my tumblr](https://ineffable--soulmates.tumblr.com/)


End file.
